A brilliant 104 not out from Hassan Khan secured a sensational 7 wicket win over the Energy Exiles on Sunday. Hassan was also the pick of the bowlers and restricted Exiles' run rate early on. They are a fine batting side though and they hit their way up to 205 for 3 from the full 35. Exiles, boosted by guest fielder Andrew West, and with star bowler Terence Moynihan looking threatening and backed up by Marcin Zielenewski and Phil Ling, took 2 early-ish Nomads wickets but a high-class stand of over 100 between Prasanth and Hassan put Nomads in with a good shout even when the consistent Prasanth fell for 59 with Nomads needing around 70 off 10. Excellent work from Darwin to support Hassan clinched the victory just in time for our star all-rounder to pass his century (his 7th or 8th for the club, I think - it could be more. I will list them next time I update the blog.)
Full report and scores to follow when I get the scorebook back....
REPORT....... I arrived to watch this fixture at 3.15 and was impressed to see Nomads (fielding first) had already bowled more than 20 overs. Our over rate had been excellent as had been the Exiles batting with the score on 90 for 1.
A fine early spell from Hassan had accounted for Exiles' skipper, the useful Chris Plume, early on. It was a new-look line-up for our old rivals with Andy Wingfield, John Tither and Simon Gundry all missing and only 2 stalwarts - Marcin Zielenewski and Phil Ling - from the golden age of Nomads/Exiles fixtures. Judging from their match reports though, these new Exiles were more than capable and they proved this by consolidating well after the early wicket.
I emerged from the pavilion again just in time to see Emil Todorow float down an unplayable delivery onto middle stump for the 2nd wicket. He was hailed with a cry of "Lala" from a fielder (which I'm assured is not only a Teletubby - Emil loves pubs so he would surely be Dipsy - but is also a term of respect which translates approximately as "Elder Brother."
With wickets in hand, there was rapid acceleration and the change bowlers came in for some harsh treatment though Andrew West was reasonably accurate and Hamza claimed a wicket on his debut.
200 was passed but a nasty hamstring injury to top-scorer Vishal Shete, who was in overdrive, probably knocked 6 or 7 runs off the final total which was still a daunting 205 for 3.
We didn't know too much about most of the Exiles bowlers but a few South African accents could be heard which is always a cause for concern. The owner of one of them, Terence Moynihan, was rapid and with the accurate Marcin Zielenewski at the other end, progress was cautious. 22 useful runs were ground out before Mahesh Vyas was narrowly run out in the 9th over.
We were told that No. 3 Hamid had not played in a competitive match before but had had loads of net practice. He crashed his 4th ball for 6 on to the tram line. He may have been lucky to survive a confident caught behind shout (3 or 4 different noises, a cloud of dust, difficult to give) but Marcin Z had him shortly afterwards.
Exiles had requested a spare fielder due to injury. It is customary in these situations to give the opposition someone of athleticism, co-ordination and enthusiasm, and so Andrew West took his place at gully and he it was who caught Hamid; coolly and without moving a muscle. Instinctive close-up fielding at its very best.
Prasanth survived an early chance; a skied caught and bowled opportunity that was spilled. In the form Prasanth has been in, fielding sides cannot afford the luxury of a dropped catch and he took full advantage, racing to 50. (Once he had passed 10 he scored at well over a run a ball.)
At the other end, Hassan settled in straight away and immediately looked impressive. He had a slight exchange of views with a fielder early on and he said this galvanised him. His stand-out shot was the Late Cut just behind Point. He played several of these and they reminded me of Graeme Hick at his best.
The asking rate was daunting (it had already climbed to 7 an over by the 9th over) but the pair managed to take each of the change bowlers for at least 7.5 an over. This included the awkward Phil Ling, a fascinating bowler to watch, who either swings it or angles it inwards very sharply. Ling made the eventual breakthrough, having Prasanth caught for a sparkling 59.
129 for 3 meant 77 to win with 10 or 11 overs left. A 50-50 chance at best. If Hassan batted to the end, supported by Darwin and/or Jonnie Randall, we would probably win. It would take fine batting and our boys produced just that. Darwin almost matched Hassan's run rate and, with 2 overs to go, just 7 were needed with Hassan on 96 but not on strike. Darwin nudged a single on the second ball and then Hassan just blew any tension away with two successive 4s to bring up the victory, his ton and prompt John to remark in the scorebook; "Best innings I can remember from Hassan." 7 words of praise from the tough John is probably worth 70 from me so I will leave it at that except to say; "Absolutely brilliant innings."
A cracking victory. The first time we have won two in a row against Exiles for 13 years. Man of the Match is quite easy. Andrew West (sorry, it's obviously Hassan but Andrew takes Fielder of the Day even though his golden moment was actually for the opposition.)
I must also praise Merton Council's pitches. I have criticised them occasionally but they play very well in the main. 413 for 6 in this game. I hesitate to praise them too highly in case any other teams reading this (if there are any, you should get out more) decided to book them and make it more difficult for us to get them. Their groundsmen are doing a great job at the moment.
Energy Exiles 205 for 3 from 35 overs
Nomads bowling;
H. Khan 7-3-22-1
Hamza 7-0-44-1
Abbas Khan 7-0-48-0
A. West 5-0-27-0
E. Todorow 5-0-28-1
Hamid 4-0-30-0
Clapham Nomads 208 for 3 from 33.4 overs
M. Vyas 4
P. Pattiyil 59
Hamid 10
H. Khan not out 104
D. Gunawardena not out 31
F.O.W. - 22, 33, 129
Clapham Nomads won by 7 wickets
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